Ineos today welcomed a ruling decision from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that claims made by the Friends of the Earth misled the public.

INEOS shale operations director Tom Pickering said: “We have previously offered to meet with Friends of the Earth, and also Friends of the Earth Scotland, to have a grown-up science based discussion of the issues around shale gas extraction but unsurprisingly neither organisation wishes to engage with us. We will continue, however, to try to make this meeting happen as our energy and manufacturing sectors are too important to allow fake facts to influence the debate. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with all parties based on the true realities of shale gas.”

The decision comes after a 14-month investigation found that Friends of the Earth (FOE) could not substantiate a number of scare stories.

Pickering added: “The false claims have formed the heart of the FOE’s wrongheaded opposition to fracking and we are pleased to see the record corrected.

“INEOS is always happy to debate on the facts and answer any questions and concerns that members of the public or groups may have. However, as today’s ruling has made clear Friends of the Earth have been spreading false information and misleading the public about this important issue.

“For too long Friends of the Earth, and their Scottish counterparts Friends of the Earth Scotland, have been wilfully misleading the public on fracking to fulfil their anti-fossil fuel agenda. Hopefully this ruling will be a lesson to those organisations but more importantly give the public cause to reflect on the duplicity they have been subjected to by Friends of the Earth.”

INEOS is currently progressing with surveys to evaluate the geology and gas potential of its sites across England. It is also planning the next stages of its extensive community consultation programme.